The Washington Postdownload Pdf(122

Home , True Blood

Vampires turn gentler with eye toward teen girls - washingtonpost.com Page 1 of 3

Hello vidal | Change Preferences | Sign Out

TODAY'S NEWSPAPER Subscribe | PostPoints

NEWS POLITICS OPINIONS BUSINESS LOCAL SPORTS ARTS & LIVING GOING OUT GUIDE JOBS CARS REAL ESTATE RENTALS

CLASSIFIEDS

SEARCH: washingtonpost.com Web | Search Archives

washingtonpost.com > Arts & Living > Entertainment News

Vampires turn gentler with eye toward teen girls

By Jill Serjeant TOOLBOX Reuters Monday, August 10, 2009; 6:33 PM Resize Print E-mail LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Girls these days can't seem

to get enough of dark, mysterious strangers -- especially if they have fangs and drink blood. WHO'S BLOGGING

The age-old vampire genre is finding a new audience » Links to this article among angst-ridden teenage girls with romance on their minds, and as a result, the horrific undead are changing into kinder, gentler creatures who often curb their thirst for fresh, young blood.

Dark, dashing and brooding, today's young male vampires have a special allure for young women that goes beyond the escapist, fantasy appeal that the genre enjoyed for decades, and Hollywood is rushing to take advantage of it.

"There is something about a man who lurks in the dark", said actress Nina Dobrey, who plays high school student Elena Gilbert in the September TV series "The Vampire Diaries".

The show will air on the young female-oriented CW network with the promotional line "Love Sucks."

And the CW isn't the only media company getting in on the act. HBO's "True Blood" has become a darling of TV critics, and last year's hit vampire movie "Twilight" has spawned the sequel "New Moon" in theaters this fall.

"There is the appeal of the forbidden -- of 'who's that mysterious boy in my class'," said Richelle Mead, author of the best selling young adult book series "The Vampire Academy", which has been translated into 22 languages. Regional Sales Manager BUFFALO, NY - SOFTWARE COMPANY "There are also plenty of teens who feel Entry-Level Sales Manager that people don't quite understand them, BUFFALO, NY - ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR and here is the other who is not quite Sales Manager - Entry Level the norm. That is very attractive," Mead told Reuters. BUFFALO, NY - NES STAFFING

Sales Support Manager - McKinley Stephenie Meyer's young adult romance novel "Twilight" has sold some 17 million copies, BLASDELL, NY - DICK'S SPORTING GOODS and fans of shy 17-year-old Bella Swan and outsider vampire Edward Cullen helped the LTC Regional Sales Manager movie bring in $383 million at global box offices. BUFFALO, NY - CPR MEDICAL

SEE ALL JOBS VEGETARIAN VAMPIRES Find Your Dream Job Now! "Twilight" vampires call themselves vegetarian because they only drink the blood of animals, and the fanged ones on "True Blood" have managed to integrate themselves into human keywords location society by drinking a synthetic blood substitute, called Tru Blood.

"You can't have a teen girl falling in love with a total monster," said Mead, whose books Jobs by SimplyHired feature a non-killing race of vampires that exist alongside a more evil subset. FEATURED ADVERTISER LINKS

Attorney:, Asbestos Lung Cancer, Failed Cochlear Implants "They had to become a little more accessible versus the vampire movies of the 20th century, when they were quite gruesome. It's a safe scary," she said. Lawyer: Mesothelioma, Fentanyl, Hydroxycut, Pain Pumps

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002569.ht... 8/13/2009 Vampires turn gentler with eye toward teen girls - washingtonpost.com Page 2 of 3

Compared to old-school vampires, as in Bela Lugosi's classic 1931 movie "Dracula," modern Save Up To 75% On Cruises at Vacations To Go bloodsuckers have complex relationships and emotional entanglements -- often sexless -- Debt destroying your day?New Debt Wise helps you decrease with the objects of their desires, said Elayne Rapping, professor of American studies at the your debt! University of Buffalo.

Julie Plec, executive producer of "The Vampire Diaries" which is based novels of L.J. Smith and set in a high school, said young women want to believe vampires have "epic amounts of knowledge and soul and spirituality and intelligence lurking behind those eyes."

"So in a vampire, just by definition, you are getting the bad boy with the brain," Plec told reporters recently.

But older vampire fans have not warmed to the sensitive undead currently stalking bookshelves and airwaves. "Some people get quite vicious about it. They consider they have been ruined. They see vampires as being bastardized," said Mead.

Still, all hope is not lost. Although teen girls are dying to see the "New Moon" sequel to "Twilight" in November, the 2010 movie "Priest" is a dark action flick about a vampire- slaying priest and October sees the release of thriller "Cirque du Freak:The Vampire's Assistant."

(Additional reporting by Laura Isensee; Editing by Bob )

Full Legal Notice